KathyC

I actually carry it to work most days, LOL. I am only here 4 hours today, so I just carried a small lunch bag instead of my regular tote. If I had know my boss would be out of the office all day, I'd have brought it.

We've got one of the stinky NE itineraries, stopping in Port Canaveral from 12-9, then Nassau & CocoCay. PC we'll probably only get off the boat if we dock next to Grills; otherwise doubt we'll get off. My 18 & 20 year olds will be legal to drink in Nassau, so we're getting off there so they can order a drink somewhere. CocoCay is the main stop for the trip. Other than spending time together as a family once the boys get home from college, and enjoying their grandparents too. :D

Here is one I just thought of, when replying in another thread. Does Adventure have Freestyle machines?

I hear ya! We are taking our 18 & 20 on Adventure in May; we got 1 device for all four of us to share, and only because it was lumped in with a soda package for my 18 year old. They will complain, but as I am paying for it they will be required to share with me so I can scope that week. That is, of course, if VOOM cooperates. Hoping in the upcoming refurb that issue is addressed.

Thanks, and keep those tips coming! We sail Adventure in May 2018, and last time we were on this class was Explorer in 2010. Long time ago for this class and I'm sure a lot will be different than what we are remembering. We have a different itinerary as she'll be sailing from NJ then, but I'm loving all the ship tips! Can't wait for her upcoming refurb to see what else will be completed. We will definitely be looking at that beer board! I'll be back later to ask questions; I'm at work and do't have my cruise folder with me. I know, I know, I should carry it at all times, right?!

I don't know if I've even seen a discount on the coffee card. I did get a sale on the refreshment package for my 20 yr old - it was discounted to $18 from $26. May 2018 sailing. I think the same price was offered for my October 2018 sailing. I did NOT see a sale for the soda package though.

The force sent us a nice drink package sale today! Woo Hoo!! Happy Thanksgiving everyone!

My May 2018 dropped from $55 to $41, so we grabbed two of those. My 20 yr old got the refreshment package, which dropped from $26 to $18. We got the soda package + Voom - 1 device for my 18 yr old, for $19 per day. The soda only is not available at the moment, but I know it's $8.50 on my October sailing. So doing the math on that combo we're getting Voom for $10.50 per day, which is cheaper than the $14.39 regular rate. My October sailing didn't show up on sale until later in the day, at $41 per day too. Damn, I wish we could only buy one of those.

I don't know how to do a screen shot, but I can copy & paste. LOL Here is what the excursion says: Florida Mall Shopping Transfer Overview This dynamic shopping destination offers 1.7 million square feet of retail, dining and entertainment options. Prominent department and anchor stores include Macy's, Dillard's and JC Penney. Transfer via air conditioned comfortable coach for a shopping trip to one of Florida's largest indoor malls. Accompany your day by choosing from an expansive array of dining choices and health-conscious eateries. With more than 250 retailers including American Girl, Crayola Experience, M&M's World store, The Disney Store, A/X Armani Exchange, The Apple Store and Zara. Reusable shopping bag and Savings Passport to over 100 stores are included in your transportation. PC81 $54 per adult and child.

Thank you for a great live blog!!

We did the airboat/gator park excursion in 2015 and my (teen at the time) boys loved it. Would definitely do again. The gator park was on the boring side for a lot of the kids, but mine are very nature-oriented and enjoyed it. You could also eat gator which they thought was cool. But the airboat was the highlight for them. We're going back to PC in May, and only have three excursions at the moment in our Cruise Planner. We may end up getting off, having lunch at Grills, and getting back on. None of us are interested in the shuttle to a shopping area, done KSC twice already, and can't remember the third at the moment. Hoping now that we are 180 days out other items will start showing up. We had nothing until about a week ago, not even listed.

I've read different reports on the use of this card on different ships. Some people have reported that it's one punch per drink, and others have reported it's one punch per shot. So if you get two shots of espresso in your drink, then they take two punches. Others have also reported that it's only for one size coffee, and if you want a bigger size they take two punches. Didn't stop me from buying one for my cruise on Serenade next October though. LOL I'll report back in 10 months how it went.

Bored watching the AMAs so I'm going thru the Royal Gifts and it's so strange how some items availability is. Why is something is available on Oasis and Harmony, but not on Allure, and vice versa? They are all out of Florida, same class. I can get beach sandals on Allure, but not Harmony or Oasis, but can get the beach towel on Oasis and Harmony but not Allure. LOL

You beat me to posting by about a minute! LOL

I don't know how to do a screen shot of it, (sorry, old lady here) but it looks like it's NOT available on the following ships: Brilliance of the Seas Explorer of the Seas Freedom of the Seas Independence of the Seas Jewel of the Seas Legend of the Seas Mariner of the Seas Navigator of the Seas Ovation of the Seas Quantum of the Seas Radiance of the Seas Rhapsody of the Seas Splendour of the Seas Serenade of the Seas Voyager of the Seas The bottles are only 375ml too.

We didn't have it on the Harmony Group Cruise, but lots of others in the group did so I'm sure they will chime in. Feedback I heard from some of them was that it was way too much food, since you get lunch on sea days as well as dinner. Some found themselves skipping breakfast since they were going to have such a big lunch.

We've found the prices recently on the islands to be a bit better than the ones on the ship, but the ship selections (on Harmony, anyway) were less in number than when we sailed Quantum on 2015. Either the size of the store is smaller so they carry less, or they are just carrying less since they are selling less/more people buying onshore? Not sure. My husband googled the prices at our local liquor store while shopping on the ship and in Cozumel and Jamaica and we only ended up buying something we could get at home from Jamaica. (Rest of our dollars went to local products.)

Neither my husband or I get the e-mails, and we both have C&A accounts. I bet we checked a box somewhere along the line that said not to send them.

Decision made! We're holding out until the Bermuda sailings are announced in a couple of weeks. Since we've got 19 days in the Caribbean in 2018, we're going to go back to Bermuda in 2019. Depending on when the group cruises are, we'll either book right away and do a junior suite for double points or we'll do either an ocean view or balcony and then a group cruise. This gives Matt a couple weeks to work on those group cruise dates before we have to make any decisions. :D Now I have no idea what I'm going to do at work tomorrow. LOL

Tomorrow for C&A folks! But only for certain sailings. I'm hoping to keep this 2019 trip as cost effective as possible, so I can bank more money for the 2020 Ovation to Alaska for the four of us. I'm looking for something I can maybe drive to, which means Boston, NJ, or Baltimore so we can do a junior suite for the double points.

LOL Yes!! I need them to be nice and low. But I also need Matt to choose his 2019 group cruise dates ASAP, so I can work them into my plans.

There is someone posting in the Cruise Life Group on FB pdfs of itineraries and dates by ship for the Oasis & Freedom class. Hoping that means pricing will be up soon. He reminded us that C&A can book one day prior to regular people, so maybe you have to log in before searching? I don't have my password with me or I'd try. I can't log onto FB here at work, and my phone won't see the printer, so I'm having a tough time putting things together. I may have to wait until I get home to put my itinerary options together. I have a couple specific weeks I'm looking at based on our work and football schedules, trying to include when our two boys are home from college as well, so to cruise when we'd like to is going to have a narrow window. I'm thinking if we book early enough we can do the junior suite on a 7 night, get double points, then we'll turn Diamond on that cruise.

I like that kind of cruising.

My boss isn't back from vacation yet, and I believe some itineraries are opening up for 2019 this week. Hoping enough open up today so I can obsess some more while I'm bored.

The power plug thing inside the CPU box caught on fire. I smelled smoke, then all of a sudden I heard a beeping, like an alarm. Had no idea it was coming from under my desk, thought it was from the furnace vent on the other side of my partition. The house our office is in is about 100 years old, so my boss ran down to the basement to check the furnace. One of the other partners (our IT guy) went straight to my computer as he thought it smelled like plastic burning. By the time he got the CPU cover off the plug had melted completely and was smoking.